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"The face of the operation is Briatore (referred to exclusively in the film by his colleagues and angry, chanting detractors as "Flavio"), an anthropomorphic radish who spends most of his time at QPR plotting to fire all of the managers."

At press time, Harbaugh had sent Michigan’s athletic department an envelope containing a heavily annotated seating chart, a list of the 63,000 seat views he had found unsatisfactory, and a glowing 70-page report on section 25, row 12, seat 9, which he claimed is “exactly what the great sport of football is all about.”

OT: A Sign of Spring---Pitchers and Catchers Report

With the general mood around here today being just "slightly" down, due to the bad news involving things like Jake Butt's ACL injury and the latest bad winter weather, let me spread a bit of cheer, a veritable "light at the end of the tunnel", if you will:

Doesn't matter, either, if you're a fan of some team other than the Tigers (gasp), as most other clubs likewise have or will have their pitchers and catchers report by the end of this week and full squads in Florida or Arizona next week. The Dodgers and Diamondbacks have already been at work for several days now, getting ready for an early start to the regular season with a trip down under for a pair of games on March 22nd and 23rd:

Not really sure if this is the specific reason, but I always assumed it was because pitchers in particular benefit from a somewhat extended training period simply because of what they are expected to do. I would think that getting mechanics polished and building strength for a pitcher is a slightly longer process even though a lot of players train all throughout the year now.

"Funny isn't it, how naughty dentists always make that one fatal mistake."

I think its also because they need more rest in between tougher sessions and the amount of work they get in requires more time to do so...maybe? I may be talking out of my ass. But I'm sure getting timing down and like you said, mechanics. The last organized baseball team I was on, the pitchers went off and did their own thing for the first few weeks of the season working on "hitting their spots," a sort of four corners thing, throwing at the catcher's knees and shoulders in succession. I suppose they want that timing down before practicing with the rest of the team.

The best thing about living in Florida is Spring Training. My son is getting old enough to get more of what's going on, and he actually likes running around the berm during games. Great way to spend a day, though the tickets get more and more expensive every year.

They used to be like $8-10 for decent seats, $12-15 for good seats. There are only 7,000 to 10,000 seats, so none are really bad, and a lot of places have a berm where you can put a blanket or towel down and sit in the grass, which used to be $6 or something in Lakeland. Now, they can be $30 or more, and even the berm seats are $20 when the Yankees are in town. I don't know. It just feels like the whole thing is changing for the worse. It's just not what it used to be.

Let me add that I do still love the fact that it's my best chance to see the Tigers, since they usually only play 3-4 games a year in Florida when they're in Tampa. Plus, Lakeland is only about 2 hours away and I get to see a few Michigan games in Port St. Lucie (about 45 minutes away) every February when they play at the Mets spring training facility.

I know, right? I lol'd at the OP's title, "ANOTHER sign of spring"??? WTF was the first sign? I haven't seen it. I mean, I love winter and hate heat, but sonofabitch, what I wouldn't give for a sandy sunburn, butt sweat and mosquitos right now... F YOU winter!

What every longshot, come from behind, underdog will tell ya is this... The other guy, may in fact, be the favorite. The odds may be stacked against you, fair enough. But what the odds don't know is...this isn't a math test.

One of the 1st practices for my HS baseball season, I got hit in the face by a pitch from the pitching machine. Knocked me out. Well, my mom insisted I go to the ER. Once there and we told the nurse why we were there, she said oh cool. Well, my mom didn't take that very well and made the nurse explain herself. Her explanation is what I think about every time I hear pitchers and catchers are reporting. Warm weather is just around the corner. Well done OP, I agree. This is a sign of good things to come, even if your favorite team isn't winning.

People should not fear their government. Government should fear their people!

And read the sports pages of the News and Free Press again after seeing your post.

But then I looked out the window to see that the mighty Huron River is completely frozen and covered with snow. Fortunately it is now the cocktail hour and I can pretend I am in Russia guzzling chilled vodka........no rocks, no mix.......straight into the blood stream.